ANSWER
Dietary fibre can be classified into two major classes which are water-soluble (pectin, gums) and water-insoluble (cellulose, lignin, some of the hemicellulose). Fibre in fruits is a key component which helps reducing the risk of development of chronic and degenerative diseases, including atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, insulin resistance and Type II diabetes and cancers (Maurya et al., 2015). Table 1 showed the fibre and pectin contents in some of common fruits.
Table 1. Fiber and Pectin Content of Common Fruits per 100g
| Type of Fruits | Fibre (g) | Pectin (Soluble Fibre) (g) |
| Guava | 5.4 | 1.5 |
| Pear | 3.1 | 1.0 |
| Banana | 2.6 | 0.6 |
| Apple | 2.4 | 0.8 |
| Orange | 2.4 | 0.8 |
| Strawberry | 2.0 | 0.7 |
| Papaya | 1.7 | 0.5 |
| Mango | 1.6 | 0.5 |
| Watermelon | 0.4 | 0.1 |
Chart 1. Fiber Content of Common Fruits per 100g
Discussion:
According to this chart, guava and watermelon contains the highest (5.4g) and lowest (0.4g) fibre content respectively. This is due to the pectin content is higher in guava and lower in watermelon (Table 1). Pectin is a fruit fibre which compromised on average 35% of fruit fibre cell wall content and as a major fruit prebiotic which promote a healthy, anti-inflammatory colonic microbiota system (Dreher, 2018). Killadi et al. (2018) also reported that guavas fruits are important source of natural pectin and dietary fiber which help to decrease cholesterol and also beneficial to diabetic patients in reducing blood-sugar.
References
Dreher, M. L. (2018). Whole fruits and fruit fiber emerging health effects. Nutrients, 10(12), 1833. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10121833
Killadi, B., Chaurasia, R., & Shukla, D. K. (2018). Pectin fractions in guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars ‘Shweta’ and ‘Lalit’. International Journal of Chemical Studies, 6(5), 1114-1117.
Maurya, A. K., Pandey, R. K., Rai, D., Porwal, P., & Rai, D. C. (2015). Waste product of fruits and vegetables processing as a source of dietary fiber: a review. Trends in Biosciences, 8 (19), 5129-5140.
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. (2019). USDA Food Data Central. Retrieved at https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/786690/nutrients
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. (2019). USDA Food Data Central. Retrieved at https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169118/nutrients
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. (2019). USDA Food Data Central. Retrieved at https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173944/nutrients
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. (2019). USDA Food Data Central. Retrieved at https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/786631/nutrients
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. (2019). USDA Food Data Central. Retrieved at https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/786559/nutrients
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. (2019). USDA Food Data Central. Retrieved at https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/167762/nutrients
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. (2019). USDA Food Data Central. Retrieved at https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169926/nutrients
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. (2019). USDA Food Data Central. Retrieved at https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169910/nutrients
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. (2019). USDA Food Data Central. Retrieved at https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/167765/nutrients
